U.S. President-elect Barack Obama says his administration will restore America's place as a world leader in science and technology.

In his weekly address, delivered Saturday, Mr. Obama announced the appointment of three people to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology - John Holdren, Harold Varmus, and Eric Lander.

Mr. Obama said Holdren is a renowned physicist known for his work on climate and energy. He said Varmus is a Nobel Prize winning scientist in cancer research. He said Lander is a driving force in mapping the human genome (the DNA content of an organism), which Mr. Obama described as one of the world's greatest scientific achievements.

The Senate must approve Mr. Obama's nominees for Cabinet secretaries and other top positions.

Later Saturday, the Obama family arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, where they plan to spend the Christmas holiday.